Saturday, January 28, 2012

ReDesigNation: Phase 2

Sorry I've been so quiet on the blogging lately. There's actually been quite a bit going on. My little baby turned one, my church has started a new church plant in East Liberty, lots of refinishing furniture, and we bought a church. Yeah, you read that right, a church. I've been grappling with telling you, but I think it's time. We put an offer in last week, and as long as nothing major creeps up during inspections, Redesignation is going into phase 2 come August.
My husband and I have been looking for a building for some time now that fits both our needs. He runs a landscaping business and needs some land to park his trucks and service his equipment, and well, you know what I need...space. This church is about 1600 sq. ft, which is a little roomier than what I'm dealing with in Squirrel Hill. We had a couple specialist come by because there is a problem with water in the basement (anyone know how to deal with sump pumps?), and we're having a plumber come by on Monday. There seems to be some major plumbing work started, but we're not sure if it was ever finished and we need it assessed by a professional in order to know what we're getting into. If it's not too major, then we'll proceed with a closing date.
If we close on this deal, I'll end my lease in August here in Squirrel Hill and move out to Wilkinsburg. I'll probably scale it down a bit, focusing more on pieces I refinish, and operate (at least initially) by appointment only. I probably won't take on consignments, at least not in the beginning due to not knowing how being located in Wilkinsburg will affect my business.  I'm really excited at the thought of bringing life into an area that's a little run-down. I think that's what ReDesigNation's all about at its core-- taking something a little rough, and polishing it up. There's a couple more storefronts on the street if any of you other entrepreneurs out there are interested! So you tell me...will you follow me there? Do you think location matters as much? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
In the meantime, we're carrying on like normal. I'll keep you updated though. Here are some pictures of the building. Isn't it cute?


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Downton Abbey

The curse of running a furniture business is that I can't help but notice other people's furniture. I don't judge, I swear, I just "notice". And slightly obsess. We don't have cable in the Deane household, but we do have Netflix, and our newest obsession is Downton Abbey. 
If you haven't seen it yet, you must! I love time period pieces, and this is one of my favorite series I've ever seen. The accents. The clothes. The mannerisms. I love it all, but one thing that highly peeks my interest is obviously the furniture. It's so interesting to me the dichotomy between the upper class and the servants. It's displayed in every way right down to the dresser they store their clothes in. The funny thing is that the furniture in the servants' quarters is what has been coined the ever-so-popular "shabby chic". Where as, the lavish furniture in the rest of the house is stuff we find more "dated". Interesting how times and trends change, isn't it? My mom used to have this long brown velour sofa and two accent chairs in the living room covered in this beige and orange floral 70's polyester-type fabric. The only photo I can seem to dig up to prove the ridiculousness of these chairs happen to be extremely incriminating of a certain 13 yr old someone.   I wonder what my daughter will look back on of mine only to think, "what the heck were you thinking?"
Only time will tell...